There was the time a delayed flight forced a mad scramble and a fight with Nick Thompson just a few hours after his plane touched down in Ohio.

There were the countless roadside motels that, according to Herman, would make even the most hardscrabble traveler think, “Man, that place looks sketchy.”

There was the meager $200 paycheck for his first MMA fight, though it nearly matched his weekly construction-job paycheck, so it seemed like a windfall at the time.

And there’s the time his trainer’s flight got mixed up and forced him to rent a car and drive across Texas to make Herman’s fight just in time.

Back then, in the early 2000s (and well before MMA’s current boom), that was the life of an up-and-coming fighter. But now, more than seven years into a UFC career that has seen plenty of highs and some hefty paychecks, Herman is thankful for his current veteran status.

“There were some letdowns along the way, but I’m pretty proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish,” Herman told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). “I’ve been with the company, Zuffa, for like seven years now. I’m pretty excited, pretty proud of what I accomplished. But I feel like I still have more to prove and more to accomplish.”

Herman (20-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) gets that chance on Saturday, when he meets fellow middleweight and Anthony Smith (10-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 8, which takes place at Seattle’s KeyArena. Their preliminary-card bout airs on FX ahead of the FOX-televised main card.

For Herman, it’s a chance to earn his first win in 17 months. After a loss to Jake Shields (that later was changed to a no-contest after Shields failed a post-fight drug test), Herman took a late-notice Strikeforce bout and suffered a submission loss to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in January. It marked the third time in his career in which he’s failed to register a win in back-to-back fights.

“It can be hard dealing with coming off the losses, not only financially but career-wise, wondering and questioning if you’re going to have a job and dealing with the criticism from fans and other things like that,” he said. “But I’ve been doing this for awhile, so it’s something you of get used to at this point, I guess. I’ve taken somme tough losses, and I have some good wins.

“The loss to ‘Jacare’ was a tough loss for me. It was unfortunate. But I’m back on my feet and ready to get a win.”

Herman, a runner-up on “The Ultimate Fighter 3,” recently opened his own gym in Colorado, Trials MMA. The former Team Quest fighter said the camp houses eight top-level 185-pounders and allows him to see a variety of fighting styles during his training camps. Herman, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, believes that’s prepared him well for Smith, whom he calls “a big, strong wrestler with a decent ground game.”

In fact, Herman said, “I’ve heard that from a lot of people. He’s just big, and he’s strong.”

But he also believes the former Strikeforce fighter’s muscular build could give Herman the opening he needs. Smith has gone past the first round just twice, and in the most recent instance, he suffered a submission loss to Tim Kennedy.

“I feel like he gasses out, and I’m going to push the pace and make that happen,” Herman said. “When I start blasting him some of that old-school ground and pound and get those elbows through, he won’t like it.”

A victory here could propel the 32-year-old back to main-card bouts. It could also earn Herman a shot at the type of top contenders against whom he’s fallen short in the past (like Demian Maia and Alan Belcher). While those losses, as well as the one to Souza, stung and derailed past title hopes, he believes they made him a better fighter.

“Coming off a loss always motivates you,” he said. “You train harder. I feel like I’m training harder than I ever have. I’ve been completely injury-free.

“You can’t take anybody lightly or take anyone for granted. He’s going to come out there and try to make his name off me and get his first win in the UFC. Like I said, I’m not taking him lightly, but at the same time, I’ve been in there with some of the best guys in the world. I’ve been in there with some the best grapplers in the world in [Zuffa] – like Demian Maia, Jake Shields, and ‘Jacare.’ He’s not going to come at me with anything I haven’t seen before.”

MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

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